By Peter Orengo

Kenya has relinquished its position as East Africa’s most corrupt country to Burundi, according to the latest bribery Index.

This year, the Transparency International (TI) study included Rwanda and Burundi.

"The index registers the firsthand experiences of the residents of the region with regard to service delivery and corruption," said Samuel Kimeu of TI.

Burundi topped with a corruption prevalence rate of 36.7 per cent while Rwanda is the least corrupt country in East Africa at 6.6 per cent.

Kenya emerged third with a slight drop in the prevalence of corruption at 31.9 per cent compared to last year’s 45 per cent.

Most corrupt

Uganda ranked second at 33 per cent, while Tanzania is fourth with a corruption prevalence of 28.6 per cent. In Kenya, the uniformed forces dominated the top with the Police coming first followed by the Ministry of Defence. City Council of Nairobi is third, the Judiciary took the fourth position, while Ministry of Lands was the fifth most corrupt.

Regionally, Burundi Revenue Authority is the most corrupt institution dislodging the Kenya Police, which topped last year. Police force in Burundi comes second followed by the Kenya Police, Uganda Revenue Authority and Tanzania’s police follow in that order.

Completing the list of East Africa’s top ten corrupt institutions are the Uganda Police, Kenya’s Ministry of Defence, City Hall and the Judiciary in Kenya and Tanzania.

The East African Bribery Index is a governance tool developed to measure bribery levels in the private and public sectors.

According to TI, the survey was conducted among 10,505 respondents selected through random household sampling in East Africa.

"The study sought to establish the extent of bribery by seeking information on where the respondents were asked to pay bribes, if they acceded to bribery demands and the amount of bribe paid," added Mr Kimeu.